I PASSED through the local flooding to Foxcotte Lane between Penton last week and it reminded me that the land to the south of the road used to be a flood plain, which was put to good use in times of deluge.
In the late 1970s and early 1980s the owners of this piece of land were allowed by the local council to use this as a tip for infill with builders’ waste and soil raising the ground level some three to four feet overall, thus preventing it from being able to flood.
This point has been missed at many discussions that take place and surely the simple solution is to restore these filled flood plains back to their original condition and levels so they can provide relief and prevent the roads in the vicinity from flooding to the degree they do now.
Also on the A342 Hampshire County Council used to have a team of two men who annually cleared the edges of the roads from the dirt etc, which built up throughout the year and cleared the earth ditches, providing a runoff from the roads.
Many of these run-offs are silted up so water is allowed to form on the road which is dangerous for road users and is causing preventable damage to the surface of the carriageway which is occurring as a result of the water being unable to run off into the ditches.
I hope this will raise the awareness to those in the authorities responsible for the highways and the waterways as well as the environment agencies and local council so they can take sensible action to prevent expensive damage being caused to roads and avoid accidents and damage to vehicles which result from the roads being allowed to flood unnecessarily.
Alistair McGlashan, Edelweiss Close, Ludgershall